Western Indian Gaming Conference Unites Casino Owners and Vendors

14 January 2001

PALM SPRINGS, California -- Jan. 14, 2001-- As reported by the California Desert Sun: ...About 700 tribal leaders from around the country will be in the city to catch up on the latest trends in gaming while they meet to discuss how to improve the casinos back on their reservations.

"Among them will be hundreds of vendors trying to make sure California's newest casino owners leave the Western Indian Gaming Conference with more than pleasant memories of a Palm Springs weekend.

"The conference has become so popular with vendors in the previous five years that organizers had to turn away about 120 vendors before deciding to expand the conference to engulf more of the Palm Springs Convention Center.


"...Vendors are still scrambling to supply the thousands of Las Vegas-style slot machines California voters approved for Indian casinos in March.

"...New technology has pushed the cost of a single slot machine to as much as $12,000, said John Sears senior vice president of sales and service for Sodak Gaming Inc. of Rapid City, S.D.

"Sodak, a sponsor of the Palm Springs conference, supplies about 70 percent of the slot machines in American Indian casinos nationwide.

"...Las Vegas-style gambling in California will increase the size of the Indian gaming industry by as much as 50 percent nationwide, [Sears] said..."


Related Links
Western Indian Gaming Conference (WIGC) 2001